The Chinese News Agency (Xinhua) said that the fact that Vietnam officially signed the deal with the US, the last out of 28 partners requiring bilateral talks on Vietnam’s entry to the WTO, indicates that the country should joint the global body before the end of 2006, after 11 years of bilateral and multi-lateral negotiations.

The US-based Washington Post newspaper quoted Chairman of the United States-Vietnam Trade Council (USVTC) Virginia Foote as saying that a jump in two-way trade between the two countries will be seen soon after Vietnam’s accession.

Meanwhile, the American magazine Forbes quoted US Deputy Trade Representative, Ambassador Karan Bhatia as saying that there is strong support from both US political parties for the granting of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status to Vietnam.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that two-way trade between Vietnam and the US increased by 20 percent to US$7.8 billion in 2005.

Under the agreement, Vietnam will impose a 15-percent tariff on 94 percent of the goods and 75 percent of the agricultural products imported from the US, and will open up its energy, telecommunications and financial service markets to foreign enterprises, according to the BBC.